Made in 1946, THE MODERN CHIPPEWA INDIAN shows reservation life in Minnesota in the post-WWII period. Produced by Frederick Jones and Rand Kellogg, the film contains some gratuitous narration that some may consider demeaning. However it does paint a picture of an industrious tribe who have flourished as farmers, fishermen, and artists.  The film shows the Redlake Hospital (2:30), an unidentified Chippewa artist who served in the U.S. Navy during WWII (3:00).  Fishing activities are seen at the 4 minute mark. A lumber mill is seen at the 9:45 mark , and a powwow at the 10:30 mark.

The Ojibwe (also Ojibwa), or Chippewa, are a large group of Native Americans and First Nations in North America. There are Ojibwe communities in both Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the second-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by the Cree. In the United States, they have the fourth-largest population among Native American tribes, surpassed only by the Navajo, Cherokee, and Lakota.

Because many Ojibwe were formerly located around the outlet of Lake Superior, which the French colonists called Sault Ste. Marie for its rapids, the early Canadian settlers referred to the Ojibwe as Saulteurs. Ojibwe who subsequently moved to the prairie provinces of Canada have retained the name Saulteaux. This is disputed since some scholars believe that only the name migrated west.Ojibwe who were originally located along the Mississagi River and made their way to southern Ontario are known as the Mississaugas.

The Ojibwe Peoples are a major component group of the Anishinaabe-speaking peoples, a branch of the Algonquian language family. The Anishinaabe peoples include the Algonquin, Nipissing, Oji-Cree, Odawa and the Potawatomi. The majority of the Ojibwe peoples live in Canada. There are 77,940 mainline Ojibwe; 76,760 Saulteaux and 8,770 Mississaugas, organized in 125 bands, and living from western Quebec to eastern British Columbia. Ojibwe in the U.S. number over 56,440, living in an area stretching across the northern tier from New York west to Montana.

They are historically known for their crafting of birch bark canoes, their sacred birch bark scrolls, the use of cowrie shells for trading, the cultivation of wild rice, and the use of copper arrow points.In 1745, they adopted guns from the British to defeat the Dakota in the Lake Superior area, pushing them to the south and west.

The Ojibwe Nation was the first to set the agenda with European-Canadian leaders by signing detailed treaties before they allowed many European settlers into their western areas. Their Midewiwin Society is well respected as the keeper of detailed and complex scrolls of events, oral history, songs, maps, memories, stories, geometry, and mathematics.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com